carpenter



Jan. 13, 1931'. P. H. CARPENTER METHOD OF MAKING NURSING NIPPLES Filed March 20, 1929 INVENTOR AZQ ORNEYS Patented Jan. '13,

' ETHOD. OF MAKZIATG nunsmq NIPPLES Application fil ed March. a0, 1229, Serial a 348,527.

This invention relates to an improvement in rubber nipples for "nursing'bottles; and one of the principal objects'thereof' is to provide a nipple'in which the discharge aperture is soformed that the cross: sectional area thereof when the nipple is collapsed while in use, is not decreased, with the re.-

sult that the fiowiof food is not impeded or stopped, by reasonof the aperture partially or .wholly closing. when the: nipple is collapsed. v

I attain this object by forming theni-pple withafunnel-shaped aperture which tapers from the inner surface'to nearthe outer surface of the nipple, the cross'sectional.

area ofthe aperture beinggreatestat the inner end thereof.

such as will render the walls defining the perforations. perfectly smooth and free of interstices, and such" 'as insure 'the peric forations being properly-shaped.

' The foregoing object is accomplished'by rubber is under tension." The hole is made of such dimension as, in ordinary use when. the nipple is collapsed, to leave a free open passageway for the foodand at the same time to avoid an excessiveflow thereof.

as now commercially manufactured forjdimay be mentioned that'the perforations are oft times not extended clear-through the walls'of the nipple, or are of'irregular cross dinarily are ofthe same, or approximately" cross section throughout their} the same length.

'These imperfections attending the ordinary commercial nipple, are indeed, so well recognized that manyhospitals order un-.

perforated nippleslfor their use, and have perforations made by hand at the hospital.

perforating the rubber forming the "end off.- the nipple, with a die and punch, while the narily. have many defects. Among. these" The method ordinarily-used-to form the-por forations by hand at is to heat the end of a: mbr needl to ed heat and bur e' eir dnumb r o pe fo a en he'i ppf ot 0 115 o many f theih pita s' fidp e s onalin rses hu r s wbu m gt e w perf rat o 'in thenipp e b han b t al o the hom i i 'qte eemmon to e other b ning a pe fora n in nipple wit a h need e a The nippl p ni ss h 's o o 0*- ever; are still objectionable. for the reason that it is extremely hard to control the burns ing operation to obtain openingsof just the desired size, and further; the "openings ob throughout and the. wallsiare -ordinari:ly'not- V smooth, but like the commercial-nipple, are A further object of-"theinvention is to provide a method of. perforatingthe nipples those commercially finished, and those perforated byhand often collapse to such an extent that the sides of the walls'of -thenip- 7 pie adhere It is well known to 'physicians'and'profes sional nurses, hat rubber. nursing nipples 7 together and the nipple has to be taken from the .childsmouth and the walls .eitjher forced apart orthe nipplelifted slightly from --the-{niouth-- of the bottle order to admit air sufiicieht .to-break the 35" seal.

.ln carrying out my finvention, two essenti-a-ls'"wh-ich eliminate'much of the objections to the commercial ni-pp le', are borne in mind.

, These are that the walls of the opening-are made smooth, and, more important, thattheopening is' so formed as'p-n'ot to' close upon collapse of the nipple, thereby allowing for a continuity in the flow of food; and the prevention ofthe formation offa seal such '95" nipple constructed according to myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view of the tip of a nippleconstructed according to my invention,'showing the shape of the opening therein, and showing the.

plug of rubber which is cut fromthe nipple to form the opening.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view, partially in manufacturing nipples according to my invention, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional View of the nipple holder and iguide and asso-- ciated parts of the punching device-illustrated in Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly toflth'e draw- I ings,a nipple 5, constructed according to my pple.

the perforation is many times that of the "invention, may be shaped as usual, and may have walls 6.formed of the usualthickness and of the usual grade or grades of rubber. The perforation in the 'end 7 of the nipple, however, departs from the former practice, in that the perforation is funnel-shaped at its innerportion, as at 8', and'tapersto a short substantially cylindrical outer port1on 9, which leads to the outer surface of the The diameter of the inner end of outerend, and the perforation is so cut that the walls thereof are smooth and free from small irregularities or interstices which Y and guide 23 is mounted onthe base above While I have illustrated the perforation might accumulate food particles.

the continuity of the perforation will be maintained, despite thefact that the pressure upon the rubber around the perforation tends to close the opening. It has been found that the crowding of the rubber around the perforation of a nipple in use,

hasva marked tendency to bring the walls ofthe perforation together, particularly at the inner end of the opening, and thus by: Widening the opening at the lnner end, this tendency is-compensated for. For instance,

the nipple when'collapsed or partiallycollapsed in use, may distort the shape ofthe zopening from a substantially conical one, to a substantially cylindrical one, tinuity of the opening comprising the portionsS and 9, will be maintained, The aperture at the apex of the cone in a nipple constructed in accordance with my invention a substantially cylindrical nipple,

but the convent floodingi? On the othenhand, in the usual commer- 1 cial nipple, made originally with a substantially cylindrical opening, the crowded consection, of a device whlch maybe ut1l1ze d1n in the commercial nipple are commonly irregular or rough, with theresult that food particles gather therein which are extremely difficult of removal.

The method'whioh I employ for perforating nipples is illustrated in Figs. 3 and of the drawings. A simple mechanism which may be used, lncludes a base 15 on wh1ch a die 16 is mounted: The die opening 17 alines with a larger opening 18 in the base, through which the plugs of rubber 19 (see Fig 2) cut from the nipplein forming the perforations,

may drop. Apunch 20 having a conical lower end 21 is 'alinedwiththe die, by means of a braced guide 22 through which the punch may reciprocate. A nipple holder the die, and includes a'funnel-shaped body portion 24 which receives the nipple to be perforated, andsupports it, as indicated in the drawings. The nipple holder 24 may be so proportioned that the bulged portion 25' of the body of the nipple, and the bulged portion 26 at the end of the nipple may snugly fit within the body when the nipple l is dropped therein. The lower portion of the nipple holder 24 is provided with an opening 27. This opening isof such diameter that when the punch is lowered, after the nipple hasbeen placed in the holder, theend of the punch will draw the tip of the nipple out through the opening 27 to the desired tension, and the distance of the lower end of the nipple holder above the die v16 is likewise so proportioned that the proper and desired tensionupon the rubber at the tip. of the nipple will have been obtained when the punching operation begins.

The method of operating the device is as follows I Y ,An unperforated nipple is dropped into the holder 24, while the punch is elevated.- The punch is then brought down, the conical end thereof engaging the tip of thenip-l ple and stretching the rubber over the punch, and as the latter passes through the opening 27 draws the rubber under tension through such opening. When the die 16 is engaged, and the initial cut made on the outer surface of the rubber, the rubber will be in a distorted and stretched condition, and as the punch is further lowered, it is preferably rotated as the cut isicontinued, 7 although the rotation of the punch is not essential. g As soon as the initial cut at the outer skin of the rubber is made, the rubber in 10 tending to assume its shape, draws back, and this withdrawal of the outer skin of the rubber, together with the continuing descent of the plunger and consequent continuous pressure on the inner side of the rubber, causes the cut to depart from its initial direction with respect to the surface of the nipple, and taper toward the punch, with the result that when the punch is withdrawn and the nipple assumes its shape, the perforation is found to be as described. The explanation of why the funnel-shape is imparted to the cut, which I have just given, is, I believe, the correct one, but whether it is in all details correct or not, it remains a fact that a conical perforation is formed in the nipple when it is stretched over, the punch and brought into cutting contact with the die.

The plug 19 cut from the nipple, is pressed through the die opening and drops through the opening 18 in the base 15.

I have found by actual experience, that the perforation thus formed in a nipple, is smooth and regular, and free from the objections to the ordinary perforations as set out above, and that the nipples in use are particularly advantageous in eliminating many of'the objections to the ordinary perforated nipples.

, 40 The size of the openings formed by my method of perforation can be determined by selecting a punch and die of the desired dimensions. The foregoing description has been given for clearness of understanding, and no undue limitations should be deduced therefrom, but the appended I claim should be construed as broadly as permissible, in view of the prior art.

Q 5;; .Having thus described invention what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1-- p The methodof forming an opening in anipple, which consists instretching a zone of the nipple over a tapered form and severing the stretched and tapered portion around a circumference thereofby a single cut.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aifix my.

(a signature.

PAUL H. CARPENTER. 

